Starter
by Valkyrie Rising
Summary: My life was supposed to be average. I was just supposed to be handed out as a starter to some wannabe trainer. But things don't always follow cliches. Instead I wound up befriending a Treecko who, three years ago, was a human. So much for average.
1. Chapter 1: Erica

_Pokemon and Humans have gotten along for centuries. They help each other, save each other, and bond with each other. Often times, a human will gather many Pokemon and command them in competitions. But no matter how many Pokemon that human has, there is always one that started it all with them. These Pokemon, often dubbed "Starter Pokemon", come to understand their Human masters, nay, allies, better than anyone else._

_I was one such Pokemon._

* * *

><p>"Almost done guys, just stay put for a few seconds more," I yawned, but obeyed the command from the stocky, brown haired man. We sat, my colleague and I, in a dull field of short grass, being gently licked by the warm breeze blowing in from the south. The human commanding was busy studying some small, brown and white furred quadrupeds with a goofy smile. He was an idiot, and yet he was among the smartest humans in all of Hoenn. What did that tell you?<p>

"Mudkip...want to play a game?" I glanced over at my colleague, a bipedal, green scaled lizard with feet and a tail that seemed too large for his body. He was a youngster, brought in recently to be given out to a trainer when the time came...okay, he wasn't that much younger than me, but that wasn't the point. The point was...we were bored out of our mind.

"Nah, I'm good Treecko," I responded, shifting slightly so my tail fin could stick out straight. "Maybe later,"

"Ah hah, done. What calm Zigzagoon," the stocky man in a white lab coat said. Professor Birch was a bit too long for my liking, so I called him Stumpy. Some might call it offensive, some might call it funny. They'd all be correct. "You guys ready to bail back to the lab now?"

Treecko and I nodded, and I let out a quiet groan as he pulled two red and white orbs from his coat pockets. Sure, I was bored, but I'd rather be out here then within the confines of a stupid Pokeball. Rumor had it there was a trick to getting out yourself, but I had yet to figure it out. Until that day came, I had to sit obediently, and let the potentially cancerous red laser suck me into the ball, blinding me for about a straight minute.

When my vision did return to normal, I rolled my eyes at the scene around me. Now there were trees, tall ones. There was muddy land nearby, but I was seated upon a lilypad, which stayed motionless upon a vast expanse of murky brown water. It was safe water, just filled with mud. If it were a real scene, the lilypad would be drifting lazily downstream, for this swamp had a slight current to it. I should know, I was born in it.

But it was fake. Just a simulation to make me feel at ease. Yeah, right. All it did was piss me off, mock my intelligence, and make me homesick like you would not believe. Not a good mix of emotions to be feeling for a Pokemon that was picked for it's tolerance. How the hell was this trickery fair to me at all?

I swatted at the muddy water angrily, my paw passing through the water as if it wasn't even there, and I let out a sigh. No need for this place to get me down again. Staying positive was a virtue or something, right? Maybe someday I'd never have to see this place again, I just gotta wait. Could at least admire the technology and all, capturing an image of my birthplace, and-

There was an echoing click, and I found myself blinded once again. Right in the middle of my train of thought, too. How rude.

After several blinks, it was apparent that I was suddenly back in the clearing full of short grass and not much else. The hell did Birch want no-

"Crap!" I cried out as something slammed into my side, knocking me over and leaving a stinging pain in my ribs. Okay, this was just stupid now. I was attacked?

"Mudkip, get up," a foreign voice commanded. I felt an urge to obey in the back of my mind, but I resisted it and looked to the source of the voice instead. Sure enough, I saw a human, this one female. She looked fairly young, about the same age as Birch's kid. Her hair was black and short (for a female), ending just past her neck and covering her forehead at the front. Her clothes...wait, why did I care about what she was wearing? Where was my attacker?

I heard a rather intimidating snarl, looked to my right, and saw a less than intimidating Pokemon with four legs, dark gray fur, a black snout and red eyes. Just a Poochyena who thought it was tough. Wasn't the first one, definitely wouldn't be the last.

"Stupid fish!" the Poochyena growled. I frowned at that remark, and spat a glob of water forcefully at the mutt's face, making an oh-so-satisfying splash sound upon impact.

"I'm not a fish, jerk. I'm an amphibian," I retorted with a smirk. The human girl from earlier cleared her throat, catching my attention.

"Mudkip...wait for the next attack," Uh, d'uh? I was going to do that the whole time. Despite having four legs, I'm not that fast on land, so I can't just speed around opponents...I learned that from sparring with Treecko, and Trish before she was picked.

Despite getting information of my strategy, the Poochyena charged at me, barking as it did so. The stupid mutt let out a yelp of surprise when I moved out of the way, then a yelp of pain as I rammed my head into his ribcage.

"How do YOU like it?" I taunted as the Poochyena rolled across the ground, dirt coating his fur. The Poochyena got up, growled at me for a bit...then ran away with its tail literally between it's legs. Poochyena were all bark and no bite. As soon as the going got rough, they got going. Common knowledge for the win.

"Phew...thank goodness. You really saved me there," Wait, don't tell me...Yup. Stumpy was standing up behind me, dusting his lab coat off. His face was glistening, coated in sweat...that Poochyena had him on the run? The thing was like one tenth his size! He could have just stepped on it or given it a swift boot in the rear. Idiot professor. "Nice job with Mudkip there, too. What's your name?" Okay, good, the girl wasn't actually my trainer.

"I'm Erica," the girl responded, her tone less than enthused. I turned to face her, as I had yet to finish my examination. She wore a beige sweater over top of a red skirt. She had some tight black socks or something that went nearly to her knees, and she had black leather shoes one. Okay...was she a tourist? That was a not an outfit fitting for Hoenn; a hot, rough region with a lot of ocean around it.

"Oh, yes! Erica, I was expecting you back at the lab. Come, let's head back there," Stumpy said. Erica nodded and held my Pokeball out at me, but I growled at her in response. No way in hell I was going back inside that thing already! But, after a second's hesitation, Erica activated the cursed device and brought me back into it. Bitch.

* * *

><p>Just as I was about to fall asleep on top of that lilypad, I found myself outside of the illusion world again. This time I was lying on top of a white table, in a mostly white room that was filled with various white colored objects. Stumpy's lab. Beside me was Treecko, who was happily humming to himself, and a new Torchic to replace Trish. The orange feathered bird was pecking pointlessly at the table we sat upon, and was clearly infantile as well. At least Treecko wasn't...well...never mind, he was.<p>

"Torchic, Treecko, and Mudkip are your options, Erica. Which one do you want to start with?" Stumpy asked. Straight in front of me was that Erica bitch again, and she eyed the three of us carefully. Her hazel eyes rested the longest on Torchic. Seriously, she eyed the bird as if she wanted it for...you know...adult content. It was apparent that she came here for that feather-brain, so I was shocked when her index finger was pointed directly between my black eyes.

"Mudkip," Erica said, her eyes following her finger. I blinked up at her, confused as to why she picked me, but didn't object. Not that I could; Stumpy handed Erica my Pokeball, giving the girl full ownership of me. Pain in the fin.

"Excellent choice Erica. Though, either of them would be," Stumpy said with a chuckle. It hit me then that this would probably be the last time I saw Stumpy, baby Treecko, or baby Torchic. Huh...I was actually a little sad. Didn't let it show, though. Not because I had held it in, but because a whole whack of emotions were blasting my conscious mind at that time. I was leaving with a bitch to start on some dull journey across Hoenn.

"Thanks for everything, Professor Birch," Erica said politely. Even then, her tone was still dull...what was with this girl? Stumpy's kid was chattery and always laughing, a good kid. I was stuck with a robo bitch?

"No worries...well, actually, there is one favor I'd like for you to do, if you don't mind," Stumpy just had to say. -I- did mind. Minded plenty. And yet..."My son is studying battling at Rustboro for about a week. Shouldn't tak you nearly that long to get there, and you would be heading there anyway, so would you mind dropping off this for him," Erica blinked as she was handed another Pokedex, and I hopped off the table before the two infants noticed I would be leaving.

"Sure," Erica responded after a while. She probably reminded herself not to be a bitch but to be polite. Stumpy did that with his boy. Erica looked down at me, and held the ball out. I growled again, ready to shoot the damned contraption of of the bitch's hand...but she clipped onto a belt she kept around her skirt. It was then that I noticed Erica was carrying a dark green bag of sorts, which probably held provisions for the road ahead...ugh, the road.

Okay, I guess I always did want to go on a journey. Get stronger and all that, but...then why was I straight up cranky?

"Take care, Erica," Stumpy said. He didn't even bid me a farewell...bastard. That stung more than I'd have liked it to. Erica walked towards the lab's doors, and I followed. Well, she was my trainer now. Liscensed and all that, whether I liked it or not.

* * *

><p><em>Looking back now, I was a real jerk to Erica. Thankfully, it didn't stay that way. I changed. Erica changed. Hell the whole damn world changed...but, we'll get to that.<em>


	2. Chapter 2: Harpy

_There were a lot of things I hated back then. Long walks, hot weather, cold weather, bugs, and birds. Oh how I hated birds. They chirped, flew around, and just aggravated everything around them. They snatched your food, then dropped the remains on you from above, and I don't mean crumbs. Everything about them rubbed me the wrong way in my younger days. _

_Then again, I was a prick anyway._

* * *

><p>I know about some things that are considered awkward. Laughing at a funeral, crying at a joke, and walking in on your parents making love (I've done two of the tree, guess away), but none of those compare to walking with someone and neither of you speaking. Oh sure, Erica spoke on her cellphone or whatever to lie to her mother about being unable to stop at her house and say goodbye (the lie was that I needed emergency care). Other than that and the annoying chirps of those red crested Taillow around us it was a quiet walk.<p>

Erica stopped, eventually, and sat down on some soft grass. I stayed standing, and Erica just looked at me before ordering me to: "Have a seat,"

"I have a seat. Just not using it," I muttered under my breath before sitting down. The girl was strange, and more anti-social than I had expected. Hell at the very least people use Pokemon to talk to themselves aloud without seeming crazy, not that it works. Erica didn't even do that though. She kept her thoughts hidden away underneath that jet black hair, behind those hazel eyes. That was probably why she seemed so distant.

Erica let her backpack slip off of her arms almost delicately, zipped it open, and began to rummage through it. I watched, bored out of my mind, then blinked as an open can of fresh "Pokemon food" was placed in front of me. Canned food? That was just...unnatural. Though as I watched Erica pour it into a bowl she wisely packed away, I realized I was hungry and didn't care.

"Eat. It'll be a bit before reach Oldale. From there we hit Petalburg," Erica explained. Well, there. Couldn't call her stupid. She proved that she had brains by at the very least knowing the next two human cities ahead. Rustboro was further away from Petalburg, separated by a large forest from what I knew.

"Thanks," I replied before warily chomping down on the food. It consisted of soft, brown chunks of Mew-knows-what that were coated in some sort of brown sauce. It looked disgusting, smelled raunchy, but tasted amazing. I could hear Erica crunching something as I ate, so I looked up, licked my lips, and saw that it was an apple. So she snacked healthily. That explained her sleek figure.

I knocked over the blue cylinder with my paw once I finished; sort of a sign that said "I'm done" for me. So Erica picked up the can, looked at it for a second, then tossed it over her shoulder. Litter...er!

"The earth's screwed anyway," Erica mumbled in response to my staring at her. How optimistic.

I'm the one screwed here. Stuck with you and all..." I muttered. Erica stared at me for another few seconds, packed the bowl away, scooped me up in her arms, and stood up. How the hell did she get "carry me" from an elongated "screw you"?

"Tired?"

"No!"

"Don't worry. Guess I can carry you for a bit," Ugh. Now I had to either let her carry me or risk being put back in the ball of illusions.

There was silence again, and now that I wasn't even walking, there was nothing for me to focus on other than the chirps and comments of the birds in the trees.

"I'm hungry!"

"There's a Wurmple!"

"Hey baby blue, want to get busy?" the giggle that had followed was my cue to start ignoring everything. I did not need to hear Taillow sex (though admittedly I was curious).

I closed my eyes and attempted to imagine I was somewhere else. Almost worked too. Then reality came back and slapped me when Erica stopped walking. I opened my eyes with reluctance only so I could see why it was that she had stopped, and to my chagrin, I saw a Taillow pecking at the ground about fifteen feet from us. I hesitantly followed Erica's gaze, and saw that she was eyeing the bird like she eyed the brainless Torchic earlier. Oh no...

"Maybe if I catch a Pokemon..." Erica mused as she set me down on the ground. "Mudkip, get ready," Ah, that was right. Winged shit needed to be weakened first. So, I had a chance to HURT a bird? That sounded fine with me.

There was an electronic click behind me, which I recognized as a Pokedex signalling that a scan was complete, and assumed Erica checked out my moves. I could perform a Water Gun at that time, though I humbly admit that it was far from the best. Aim was fine though.

"Catch it by surprise, Mudkip, with Water Gun," a command so easy to give, yet here are the mechanics: First I would have to inhale, drawing extra oxygen and hydrogen for the formation of water. My mouth and throat then had to condense the air into liquid form until my mouth was full. Then, using the air still in my lungs, I had to propel the water from my mouth at my target, which is this case was that Taillow. I did just that, and the process only took about four seconds.

You'd have thought the Taillow would have heard Erica's command, and yet it squawked in shok as its blue feathered body was soaked to a satisfying degree. I felt guilt befall me, however, when I realized the Taillow was female. Sure I hated birds, but I was still a gentle male.

"What the hell?" the Taillow demanded with a shrill cry as she feverishly flapped her wings.

"Not your day, bird," I said as politle as I could, only to frown when the bird flew up about ten feet. If she were a bug she'd hardly be able to fly from the water. Erica and I probably had the same incorrect thought: that it worked this way for Taillow.

The Taillow dive-bombed at me but I rolled to the side before Erica gave a command. She was a rookie and my instincts were faster. Until she improved it seemed that she would be learning from me.

"You jerk!" the harpy cried as she pulled up and turned around to repeat her dive-bomb. That one scored a hit and forced me to stumble backwards. Other than that I took the hit well and blasted water up at the bird. That Water Gun missed and I casted a quick glare at Erica. Some trainer. All she did was watch me deal with this winged shit-for-brains. After two more cheap dive-bombs, both of which I managed to dodge, Erica finally spoke up:

"Use Water Gun," not a bad idea. I inhaled, but the Taillow sped up and slammed into my chest hard. I felt the air be forced from my lungs as I was hurled backwards from the blow. Ugh. Quick Attack. I should have expected that. "Get back up Mudkip, then wait for the next strike!" Erica commanded, her tone back to its dull state. Her tone was usually pretty empty, bu it got right hollow when she was...focused? There was no time to worry about that.

I got back to my paws in time to lunge away from a slap by the Taillow's wing. She was good, quick too. I hated being on the defensive, so I spat a stream of water at the bird to remedy that situation. The Taillow tried to pull up again and evade but my attack had managed to hit her right wing and causes her to plummet...for about half a second. She was tough too, it seemed. Damn it.

"You're starting to tick me off, fish," That was going to get really old, really quickly.

Unable to contain myself, I corrected her with a growl and a stern: "Amphibian," to which I got the lovely response of a swift peck between the eyes. I hopped back and soon felt blood trick down my forehead. Sharp ass beak stung like a Beedrill.

"Mudkip...use Mud-Slap," Erica stupidly commanded. Was she an actual idiot? Sure I could slap up some mud with my tail fin, but the Taillow would avoid it, because Mud-Slap was a GROUND move. Still I decided to obey my trainer and flund some mud and dirt from the ground, my tail fin used as a shovel, up at the Taillow. Before the Taillow performed her loop-de-loop to evade, I was given a quick command to: "Water Gun," from my trainer. I obeyed again and forced myself to fire one last stream of water, one that knocked the harpy right out of the sky.

Huh, she actually had a plan that worked.

Erica had a Pokeball ready in her hand and she tossed it at the stunned, grounded Taillow. The ball opened upon impact, with a sound that mimicked a small explosion, and a red laser absorbed the Taillow into the Pokeball. The ball dropped to the ground and began to shake as the Taillow resisted capture. However, it was a clean catch, and the center of the ball gave a red glow as proof of that.

"Huh...not bad, Erica," I admitted as the girl walked over to the Pokeball. She picked it up, clipped it to her belt, then turned to me.

"Good fighting out there," she started, "but try to listen to me more, wait for my commands," What? But if I had waited, I would have...ugh, idiot.

"Whatever," I muttered, essentially to a wall as Erica couldn't understand me. I turned to the direction in which we were headed prior to my bout with the harpy, sighed, and walked alongside Erica. I still had mixed feelings about the journey and about having a Taillow partner as well. Erica was a decent battler but still a rookie. It would only be a matter of time until we got thrashed and her confidence would take a blow. Being her Pokemon; that loss would be complete hell for me as well.

"We're going to have to stop off at a Pokemon Centre. Taillow needs to be healed, as do you," Erica stated the painfully obvious. Seriously for once; it was obvious I was hurt and the wound was painful. My head throbbed from the peck I had endured. Talk about a critical hit.

After a few minutes we did reach a clearing that had a few more houses than Littleroot did. Oldale Town. Small but still a step up in urbanization from whence we came. Erica headed for a white building with a red roof as soon as we entered the town limits. I had never actually seen one, but I assumed it was the Pokemon Centre Erica had mentioned earlier. My knowledge was unfortunately limited when it came to humans, cities, and Hoenn, and that fact had become painfully apparent. I didn't pay much attention to the interior of that particular Pokemon Centre. I remember there was an old man near a P.C, similar to the ones Stumpy had back in his lab.

I flinched as Erica gave a pink haired woman the Taillow's Pokeball, for she then prepared to draw me in as well. The woman proved to be my guardian angel, however, when she gave Erica some sort of cloth to swab my wound with. Erica did so, and I felt stinging pain before blissful relief.

"See? Works quick doesn't it?" the woman asked as Erica handed back the cloth. I took it my wound healed, but I checked my paw out of skepticism. Eureka! It had healed! Miracle cloth for the win.

"Thanks. Is Taillow ready?" Erica asked. At first I thought she was being downright impatient, but when Taillow's Pokeball was returned to her I realized that humans had all sorts of miracle devices to repair us Pokemon. "Thanks,"

I followed Erica out of the Pokemon Centre, and narrowed my eyes slightly when she released the harpy before me wordlessly. The harpy glanced around as if she was nervous, spotted me, then ruffled her feathers.

"You two may as well get along," Erica said with indifference in her tone. I did my best not to sneer at the Taillow, but the bird clearly held a grudge.

"Fish,"

"Amphibian,"

"You wish!"

"...Dumbass,"

* * *

><p><em>Oh yes, I hated birds back then. But like all things, that hate did go away. Came back briefly later on, then left forever. But why did I hate birds in the first place? Well, I didn't. I envied them because they had wings.<em>

_They had freedom._


	3. Chapter 3: Roots that Bond

_You think you start to know someone, but then you figure out where they came from. That knowledge can change you forever, trust me._

* * *

><p>"Taillow, use Quick Attack," Erica commanded. The Zigzagoon below the harpy was on its last legs, and the boy behind it that claled himself a trainer didn't look so hot either. Frankly, the two couldn't keep up with the avian's speed, and when the Taillow dove down for another attack, she knocked the Zigzagoon down and out. It took her a moment to realize the battle was over, and she cave a sort of victory caw. That had been Erica's first trainer battle, and it was an easy win.<p>

"Darn...return Ziggy," hearing names like that almost made me happy to have not been named at all. "You're strong Erica...here's your ten dollars," the kid handed Erica a slip of paper, money, and she took it silently. Erica looked as though she wanted to say something to the kid, whose shorts had gotten shorter when he got a good look at her, but she settled for calling the bird back to her and walking away. I, of course, was at her side, and the bird came to me of all people to talk about the battle.

"Did you see me out there?" she asked, her voice quite hyper. I nodded and grunted, but decided not to be too mean.

"Yeah, good job," I said as I kept my eyes on the road ahead. Erica and the bird did sync up nicely, but the battle was still too easy to learn much about either of them. Erica kept to herself as usual while we walked, her arms crossed almost defensively as her eyes scanned our path.

"You're not bad either...say, sorry about earlier," the Taillow apologized. I was surprised and blinked twice at the bird. Really, I didn't expect an apology from her. Hell I didn't even know how to respond to that initially.

"Thanks...I...guess I'm sorry, too," I responded, giving a polite nod of my head. The bird smiled, and I looked back at where I was going, only to see that Erica had stopped walking. Once my eyes strayed from her, I saw that she saw a city ahead of us. It was Petalburg, our next destination and the location of the first gym in Hoenn. How'd I know? Stumpy kept telling trainers to stop there first.

"Well, here we are...city rules are that only one Pokemon at a time can be out," Erica said as she turned to us. I blinked, then sighed in relief as Erica chose to withdraw Taillow into her ball. Maybe Erica had figured out that I hated being inside of the Pokeball. "Come on, Mudkip,"

We walked through the bright city, many people smiling and waving despite Erica's indifference to them entirely. I followed her gaze as she searched around for a particular building. Her eyes fell upon the Pokemon Center for a moment, but she moved on quickly afterwards. Eventually we did find a large building that seemed newer than all the others in the city. It was mostly white with a brown roof, and the human symbols "G, Y, M" were between the door and the roof on the front in brown color. I couldn't read the english, but I did have a strong hunch that the building was the gym.

Erica took a few steps towards the building, then she just froze. I figured she was thinking for a bit, but as time went by, I looked up at her curiously. A few minutes had gone by, and she just stared ahead at the building. I waited a little bit longer, then I nudged her leg with my head.

"Hey, you alive? Don't stroke out on me now," I muttered. Erica blinked twice then looked down at me. She then stared at me for a moment, swallowed, then nodded and looked at the building again.

"Okay, lets go," Erica said before walking towards the building. I walked alongside her, then blinked in surprise when we entered. The entire room that we were in was made of unpainted hardwood. It seemed strange to me, seing as how the exterior of the building didn't seem to be made out of wood. There had to be some sort of reason for it. But, more interesting to note, was the man that stood in the center of the room. He faced away from us, admiring the back wall, and I looked him over quickly since he could have been important.

He had short black hair and fair skin, like Erica. The man also wore a red jacket of sorts. His pants were black, and otherwise, he seemed fairly plain. He turned around to face Erica and I, and I couldn't help but notice Erica wince. When I looked up at her, she had the same old expression on, so I assumed she was fine. I was so wrong.

"You made it, Erica, how was...what is _that_?" he asked as he pointed at me in confusion. Was he an idiot? I was a Mudkip, everyone in Hoenn should have known that.

"My starter," Erica answered, her tone carrying a stranger quiver in it, as if she was trembling. She wasn't though, at least not that I could see. Did this man freak her out? "I picked him up from Professor Birch, just like you asked, so-"

"That's NOT what I asked you to do, Erica," the man interrupted harshly. Erica fell silent, and the man stepped forward, frustration clearly on his face. "I told you specifically to pick up a Torchic to start with. I described it to you, so you should have been able to identify it. Could you, Erica?" Erica nodded in response to the man's question, and she looked down so her eyes did not meet his. "I thought so. That means you disobeyed me. Why would you do that, hm?"

"Because..."

"Because you're still a stubborn, stupid kid!" The man shouted. Erica tensed up, but fell silent once again. Seriously, what kind of asshole were we dealing with here? Was he..."You don't have a chance of ever beating me without a Blaziken. Breloom won't cut it, Hariyama is too slow, and Medicham is too weak. The only fighting type you can get other than those three is Blaziken, and THAT was your only chance," he spat.

"...I want to battle you now," Erica answered quietly. The man blinked twice, and Erica finally raised her head to look at him. There was determination in her eyes, and I felt...relieved to see that. The man she spoke to however shook his head with cold amusement.

"No," the man responded with indifference. Erica's eyes widened, but she started to ask again.

"P-please..."

"You're not worth the time!" The man snapped, shoving Erica back with one hand. She stumbled, nearly fell even, and a growl escaped my mouth. The man ignored it, though, and seethed for a moment before speaking once again. "Go get...four badges. If you do, I'll battle you, and show you that you should just stay home and study," He said as he turned away from her. Erica opened her mouth in protest, but she closed it without making a sound and looked away. Now her expression was filled with shame, and it made me sick. I didn't know why, but...well, I was a prick. But I've never been so cold to someone I knew, and I've never seen someone be so cold to someone they knew.

Erica managed to weakly say; "Thank you, dad," and I was suddenly a lot more angry. That prick was her father! All he did was chastise her and verbally abuse her. Probably physically when they were at home, too. It would explain the flinching. Everything made sense to me at that moment, and I wanted to vomit because of it. That was...disgusting. A disgusting display from a supposed father.

"Don't call me that here," Erica's father said. With that, Erica turned on her heel and walked briskly towards the door. I gave the man a glare, even though he faced the other way, then ran after Erica. She didn't slow down at all though, she walked quickly from the building and straight to the city exit at our right. I had to chase after her, my short legs unable to keep up with her long ones, until she finally stopped just past the edge of the city.

"...You're here, let's go," her voice was strong again, but when I looked up at her face, there were tears in her eyes. They didn't fall though. She fought them, even now. Even after that, I would say she had the right to cry a bit, but she didn't. It was then that I truly started to understand her.

Her behaviour was because of him. She was cold all the time, distant to everyone, but that could be to prepare herself to face him. It made sense, after all. It also made me curious...what was she really like? She was my trainer, after all, and it would be good for me to start to learn about what was beneath her icy surface. All I could see now was fear, but there was strength there too. Strength that made her so stubborn she refused to let her father make her cry. She wouldn't give him the satisfaction.

"I...need to give you a name, don't I?" I blinked as Erica started to walk. As I caught up to her again, I say that she had wiped her tears away with her hand, and her expression was normal once more. "It's not right to keep calling you Mudkip, right? I need a name...I'll think of one. For Taillow too,"

Maybe Erica wasn't so bad after all.

* * *

><p><em>As horrible as it was, I think I needed to see Erica like that. I needed to see her face her father, it made me respect her. Made me sympathize. That was the moment she and I began to bond.<em>


End file.
